09
2007
Is This the Real Reason for Amanda Chapel’s Departure from Strumpette?
Many in the industry know that “Amanda Chapel” called it quits yesterday. While this may not be the last time we see Strumpette’s lead voice (”she’s” sort of like Roger Clemens, who retires every year), the stats below may give some insights as to why Brian Connolly may have pulled the plug on his mercurial avatar.
It seems the PR industry has been voting with its feet. For all of the grief PR pros catch, this stat gives me comfort. It demonstrates that we can discern dishonest astroturf from truthful opinion. And that we demand more accuracy and factual based commentary from our leading online voices.
Astroturf is the industry term for false grassroot campaigns. It’s hard to argue that the Amanda avatar was sincerely trying to fight hypocrisy behind a fake name, false pictures, and blatantly biased personal attacks targeted at some of its staff’s former employers (Edelman).
I will not miss “Amanda.” We’ve sparred on and off this blog.
The linked-to response was posted in April of this year to provide a counterpoint to an off-center interview we conducted with Amanda. When we refused to publish Amanda’s two-page curse-laden response, and then refused to tear down the original interview, WePublishing (owner of Strumpette) President Brian Connolly filed a complaint with GoDaddy! for copyright infringement. Rather than go dark, engage a costly lawyer and fight this ridiculous complaint for two weeks, I opted to tear down Amanda’s ill-founded logic. And moved the blog off of GoDaddy!.
That incident — more than any — convinced me that Amanda Chapel was not a sincere fighter of hypocrisy and could not let “her” words stand on their own. I vowed never to link to or mention Strumpette again on this blog. But yesterday’s sudden departure made me wonder. And I could not help but share these statistics with you.
Ciao, Amanda Chapel. Don’t hurry back.
For an in depth look at the Amanda Chapel back story check out this excellent post from Robert French.�
Strumpette’s Amanda Chapel Calls It Quits Says:
October 9th, 2007 at 8:19 am
[...] Update: some other posts about Strumpette - Andrew Smith, PRNewser, Listics, Tom Foremski, Geoff Livingston. [...]
Eric Eggertson Says:
October 9th, 2007 at 8:45 am
Interesting. I missed that particular dust-up.
The goofiness of writing about a fictional character’s comings and goings does have a certain weirdness to it. Does whoever wrote under the pseudonym have to wear a different thong when they’re writing from now on, or maybe a different pair of long stockings?
StumbleUpon » Your page is now on StumbleUpon! Says:
October 9th, 2007 at 8:50 am
Matt Gentile Says:
October 9th, 2007 at 11:31 am
Say what you want about Strumpette, Amanda Chapel and the gang delivered a new and compelling look at our industry from an insider’s perspective. Was Strumpette’s traffic down, sure, but how many bloggers ever even break out of the ethersphere to engage the mass audience?
I say here’s to you Chapel gang. Good effort. For anyone who took the content too serious, lighten up!
From the beach chair,
Matt Gentile (FloridaMoves.com - 300 Days of Sunshine)
Geoff Livingston Says:
October 9th, 2007 at 11:55 am
Eric: Thanks for driving by. Your article was brilliant.
Matt Gentile: Do you have a Florida Homes email address? If not forget about getting another comment posted. I love how people feel like it’s OK to defend an astroturfer using a fake avatar and an email like this: mattgentile@hotmail.com. Why bother commenting if you can’t stand on your own?
Geoff
Addendum: Matt verified his identity. I stand corrected.
Lewis Green Says:
October 9th, 2007 at 12:59 pm
Geoff,
I like your corageousness: Your ability to stick to your guns when you believe you are right, and your ability to apologize when you feel you might not be so right. Those are rare traits in our field and should be respected.
Geoff Livingston Says:
October 9th, 2007 at 4:09 pm
Thanks, Lewis. When you are wrong, you gotta own it. Hope you are well.
Spin Thicket Comments Says:
October 9th, 2007 at 10:24 pm
PR 2.0 - Silicon Valley Says:
October 11th, 2007 at 2:18 am
Don’t let the door hit ya at Marketing Begins At Home Says:
October 14th, 2007 at 11:05 am
One PR man’s sordid affair with Amanda Chapel « Says:
November 18th, 2007 at 12:34 pm
Who Is Strumpette? - FriendFeed Says:
June 13th, 2008 at 6:58 pm
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